TechCabal

The Next Economy is part of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Local Employment in Africa for Development (L.E.A.D.) programme. The Next Economy is a collaboration between SOS Children’s Villages, 1%Club, Enviu and Afrilabs. Currently operating in 3 sub-saharan countries including Nigeria, The Next Economy empowers African youth to unleash their talents, build their confidence and hone the skills they need for a successful career as an employee or as an entrepreneur.

In collaboration with the local partners The Co-Creation Hub, FATE Foundation, Enspire and Nhub, The Next Economy carries out activities like ‘Grow Your Business’ and ‘Make It Work’  which amongst others coaches ambitious African youth the intricacies of getting their business ideas off the ground and scaling up their businesses.

Last Saturday the 26th of Nov 2016 they organised the first Crowdfunding Bootcamp in Nigeria at the Co-Creation Hub, Yaba Lagos. It was a day of creativity and positive energy all around as the participants got to talk to experts and learn how to set up their own ingenious crowdfunding campaigns and go live!

The goal was to answer the “why’ and “how” of crowdfunding and show that it was possible to set up a fun and easy crowdsourcing campaign with just the right information and mindset. The event started with a primer by the The Next Economy team, introducing participants to the concept of crowdfunding and the itinerary for the day. There were also fun activities to get the participants and experts the right mood for what was to come.

The bootcamp participants could shop between 5 different expert sessions: Pitching & Storytelling, Crowdfunding Canvas, Business Modeling, Social Media Strategy and Creative Campaigning. Then the experts got to work, with each headlining their classes and sharing insight with participants just as eager.

During a ‘Speeddate An Expert’ session, participants had one-on-one conversations with experts to fine-tune their campaigns. The 1%Club team was on ground to assist participants at every step of the way.

Finally participants got to creating!

There was no shortage of variety at the bootcamp because participants all came with different ideas. Shown below is Kitan David who wants to raise funds to build the first student innovation hub in Akure, Nigeria. According to him, the bootcamp was an eye-opener because the prevailing sentiment is crowdfunding doesn’t work in Nigeria.

The campaign that raised the most money on the day and the most inspiring campaign both won €500 euro each  First up was Esosa Agbontaen whose “Farm Express” connects farmers with prospective customers, he won the prize for most inspirational crowdfunder.

The participant that raised the most money during the day was Adedeji Ademola, who set up a campaign to raise funds for a service that delivers fresh frozen seafood produce to clients.

After a campaign period of 30 days, a jury will review all the campaigns and reward the top 7 campaigns based on the quality of business plans and people behind them with extra funding of €5000, €3000, €2000 and four times €1000. Anybody can get in on the fun, so if you’re interested in setting up a crowdfunding campaign, visit The Next Economy website https://next-economy.com/en/ to get started.

To get live updates on what The Next Economy is up to, follow their facebook @TheNextEconomy, get at them on twitter @TheNext_Economy , instagram @the_next_economy and the website https://next-economy.com/en/.

When the perfect comes, the good has to give way. The Gionee S6s is an ingenious craft of perfection. It comes with a back Fingerprint Shutter for capturing Selfies and a Front flash for perfect Selfies even in imperfect lighting conditions.

The specifications at a glance

There’s a secret inside this box, let’s unwrap it together.
Ahaaa!!! The S6s, The grand master of Selfies…. Don’t be in a hurry to see the phone common, let’s check out the other contents. The best is reserved for the last.

Yeahh!!! We are getting there. What do we have here?

Now here are the treasures, let’s pick them one after the other.

From the very least, yet powerful, Gionee S6s comes with a non-removable battery so here’s the pin for the SIM slot.

Let’s keep the momentum; the next is the warranty card. Who needs that anyways? The Gionee S6s will give you no worries.

Next up is something very dear to my heart. Solid and alluring in every way. Stop giraffing! You couldn’t even wait for my epistle, anyways; you know it already, its the earpiece.

Let’s talk about, poise, perfection, precision and the pouch.

I know you are still staring at the pouch. We have to move on you know, the pouch can’t charge your phone. You need the charger and the USB cord.

What else do we have??
The extra screen guard to keep the beauty ministry flowing. Included is a screen wipe.

The moment you’ve been waiting for. The Gionee S6s. Before I put it on, let’s check its body and curves.

Remember I told you there’s a secret to this phone. Well, this is it.

That space right there is a finger print shutter for taking Selfies. Just touch to capture that beautiful face.
Let’s move on. It’s got a 13MP rear camera. For clear, sharp and quality images.

Now here’s another special feature. The 8MP front flash with front flash so you can keep slaying even in low light conditions. I’m sure you are already imagining your hand on the back fingerprint and your face in front.

Here’s the USB port and earpiece jack.

The Slim slot… Slim to perfection

The speaker vent

Lets put on the phone.

There you have it… The Gionee S6s is a wonder to behold, beautiful inside and out. You should be getting ready to buy yours. . Visit https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1361515373888722&id=439995002707435 to visualize this beauty.

The HUAWEI Y5 II is a smartphone with fantastic features including an awesome camera, 5-inch LCD screen, in-built phone manager and a new phone feature called the easy key that allows you create short cuts which isn’t common in all android phone.

What is so amazing about the Y5II camera is that it creates a clear crisp image due to its 81 wide angle lens. The front camera projects softly on the skin helping selfies come out clearer and more natural looking even in low light environments, so no ghost-like images. The camera is also equipped with an ultra-snapshot feature that rapidly takes photos within 1.2 seconds capturing all those spontaneous moments.

The rear camera of the Y5II is considerably the best in its range, with 8MP, dual flash light and low light shooting that ensures night time party memories are clearly captured. Also, with the Huawei Y5II there’s no need to buy photo editing apps because it comes with a professional standard 10 level auto face enhancement capability that helps create flawless, natural looking beauty shots.

The Easy key a new feature available with the Huawei Y5II helps save time. With easy key, you can by set up shortcuts for your favourite functions and apps with three simple operations; press, double press and hold, so you can say goodbye to endless clicks. The easy key is strategically place on the opposite side of the power key and volume key so the phone sits comfortably in your hand.

With the built in phone manager, the Y5II has three built in functions to help optimize, clean and protect your device. With a 5 inch IPS LCD display, the Y5II creates a whole new definition of user experience. The extremely easy to use Android 5.1 + EMUI 3.1 UI comes with a timeline feature designed to quickly manage information. Also on the Y5II, apps can be opened by drawing letters with your knuckles with the EMUI 3.1, for instance the letter C can be drawn to turn to turn on the camera.

Getting reviews is a numbers game. People prefer to buy from a business with more reviews, than ones with less.
As you get more reviews, though, the possibility of having a few bad reviews becomes less remote.

But this good. A combination of positive and negative reviews helps improve consumer’s trust in the reviews on your business. People are suspicious when your business has only good reviews.

But having an unflattering comment such as; “The worst restaurant I have ever visited” on your review page is worrying still. It’s certainly nothing to leave on your review page unattended.

You’ve got to do something about it. The question is: what? In this post, we’ll go over what you should do,

1. Don’t defend yourself

Negative reviews can leave you frustrated and angered. It’s especially worse when you are sure you are rendering a top class service. So your knee-jerk reaction might be to fire back a response defending your service or your staff. Or both. This is an approach that almost always escalates the situation.

Understand that the reviewer had a bad experience. Even if they haven’t, and they are only a grumpy brand hater, assume they’ve had a bad experience and reply to them with that at the back of your mind.

2. Thank them

There is nothing fun about thanking someone that has just called your baby “ugly,” but you have to.

Understand that you are not merely replying the reviewer, but the mass of people who will read your response in the future. This is an opportunity to show them the kind of business you are.

A sample message is: “Thank you for taking the time to write a few words about us. We value your thoughts and apologise that we fell short of your expectations. How can we make it up to you?”

3. Attend to the specific complaint

It’s not enough to simply say “we apologise.” You need to focus on the specific concerns of the reviewer. If their concern was that your staffers were rude on the day they visited, you need to find out what happened. Perhaps it was the month the salary came late. Or it was just a busy day that day.

In your response, be specific about what happened. Be honest and communicate to the reviewer that their concern has been addressed.

A sample message is: “There is one thing more important to us than providing great food for our customers, that is making sure our customers get the best hospitality and service. We have addressed the problems with the discourtesy of our staffers and have spoken with the employees on duty that day. We share your passion for good customer service in Nigeria and will do anything to uphold a culture of respectful service.”

4. Close your response with a flourish

You’ve done well so far holding back your defence argument and addressing their specific concerns. Your closing is the opportunity to turn your negative reviewers into brand ambassadors. It’s also a way to let other people who will be reading your response know that you care deeply about your customer experience.

A sample message could be: “If you visit our restaurant again, I’ll like an opportunity to meet you, so please ask for me. You’ll usually find me in [describe your office]. We hope to see you again.”

Conclusion

Bad reviews aren’t all bad. In fact, they provide a good way to know what to improve in your business. So embrace them.

As you improve your business, you’ll see the percentage of good reviews to bad reviews begin to tilt towards good ones.

At the end of the day, the best path to having great reviews is to offer a great product and customer experience.
*We used a restaurant as an example in this piece. This technique to handling bad reviews works for any business.

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The more reviews your business gets, the more customers you get, and more sales you make. VConnect provides brand aids that help businesses inspire their customers to review them. Click here to get them for FREE. VConnect is Nigeria’s largest business discovery, and review site. Connect with more than 2 million ready-to-buy customers and manage your online reputation for FREE, through ratings and reviews. Register on VConnect to get started.

Farmcrowdy.com, Nigeria’s first digital agriculture platform is offering a new way for Nigerians to participate in Agriculture using their online technology.

Through Farmcrowdy, Nigerians across the world can commit an agreed sum to own a minimum farm space, start and complete a farming cycle. In doing so, the farm partner is able to sponsor a farmer in one farming cycle thereby empowering the farmer, expanding their farm operations, participating in the drive to end food scarcity and making use of 50 million hectares of arable farm land in Nigeria that is currently under-utilized according to the World Bank.

Farms Partners on the platform, can sponsor any farm of their choice including Maize Farms, Poultry (Broiler) Farms, Cassava Farms and Tomato Farms. The Farm Partners then get bi-weekly updates about their farm progress including pictures and videos from the farmers. Also, Farm Partners can visit their farms if they wish to at any point in time to learn about the farmer they’ve partnered with and the farm products they are working on.

According to Onyeka Akumah, Co-Founder and CEO, Farmcrowdy, “Farmcrowdy is a revolutionary platform, one that has the ability to turn Nigeria’s economic fortune for good leveraging on technology to impact on the Agriculture space. We have secured over 1,000 hectares of farmland in the South-Western part of Nigeria especially in Oyo and Ogun state as we launch this initiative. With one farmer working on one hectare per season, this means that we have provided a platform to engage a minimum of 1,000 farmers with Farmcrowdy. Our goal is to secure 10,000 hectares around the eastern parts of Nigeria and the Lakaji Corridor in other to make use of Dams and Irrigation facilities in this region.”

Currently, the platform has secured 52 partners locally and internationally who have sponsored over 200 farm units. Also, over 500 farm followers have signed up to learn about farm progresses as the updates come in.
The co-founder further explained that Farmcrowdy was brought forth out of a need to increase food production to keep up with the growing Nigerian population.

https://youtu.be/gRf7PiXmtMM

Farmcrowdy was also co-founded by leading agricultural consultant AfricanFarmer Mogaji. He has 19 years experience who is well known in the Agriculture space. Described by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) as a ‘Champion for Change’, Africanfarmer Mogaji before FarmCrowdy, was the CEO of X-Ray Farms Consulting – a new generation agricultural expert, coach and consultant with over 19 years of experience both in the livestock and crop production industry within and outside Nigeria.

Farmcrowdy is here to bring the best out of the resources available in Nigeria so that Nigeria can increase the production of agricultural raw materials to meet the growth of an expanding industrial sector, reduce poverty and unemployment, offer returns on investment for Farm Owners and Farm Partners while proffering a win-win solution for everyone.

Leading online shopping mall Kilimall has put in place major plans for the annual Black Friday shopping festival, making the annual sale such a big deal in its drive to grow market share in Nigeria.
http://www.kilimall.ng/

Speaking at a pre-warm launch today in Lagos, Kilimall management said they are prepared to offer up to 70% discount for shoppers on Black Friday, which this year will be officially marked on November 25th under a campaign dubbed #ItsABigDeal.

Black Friday is the most important shopping season of the year during which most retailers slash prices and run huge offers and giveaways. “We have signed deals with different manufacturers who have agreed to offer major price cuts on various categories of products on our website,” said Sandor Feng, Managing director, Kilimall Nigeria.
Manufacturers who have already confirmed HERO Deals on their products include smartphone makers Infinix and talks are at advanced stages with more manufacturers ahead of the Black Friday.

Sandor Feng said Kilimall will stretch the shopping festival over five days to allow Nigerians more time to buy products at discounted rates. The Kilimall Black Friday sale begins on 21st November with bronze and silver deals of up to 50% discounts and climaxes with gold deals that will attract up to 70% discounts on “aspirational items usually unreachable for most customers.”

With over 50,000 items on offer in its various categories of electronics, fashion and home & living, Kilimall is offering Nigerian shoppers one more option to get their ideal products at reasonable prices. Kilimall has sweetened the huge discounts with various offers including free gifts and other big wins for shoppers, including smart TVs, phones and vouchers. The products on offer during the Black Friday offers include smartphones, TVs, household items and fashion brands such as clothes and shoes.

Do online reviews influence customers? Yes

How big is this influence? Huge.

But don’t take our word for it.

BrightLocal, the international SEO agency, found that 91% of consumers regularly or occasionally read online reviews to find out if a local business is good or bad. And more? Another 90% of surveyed sample in a Marketing Land survey said that positive online reviews influence their buying decisions.

So you see, reviews are important for your small business these days. Business reviews on websites like VConnect and Google My Business help you get more customers and make more sales, In this article, we list 19 more stats about reviews you can leverage to grow your small Nigerian business.

 

1. Consumers research products online every day

Fact: 80% of consumers research products online every week. Source

What this means for a small business: As a small business, reviews help you stand out among other businesses. If you don’t have reviews, odds are people will choose other businesses over yours.

2. Consumers now actively read online business reviews

Fact: 91% of consumers are reading reviews on a more frequent basis. Source

What this means for a small business: More people are searching for and reading online business reviews. The more people look for reviews, the better for you as a small business owner, especially when your business has a positive online reputation via reviews.

3. Consumers trust online reviews

Fact: 84% of people trust online reviews as much as a personal recommendation. Source

What this means for a small business: Word-of-mouth is still the most popular way of recommending a local business. But reviews are coming close in impact. Having a good online reputation will get you as much new customers as personal recommendation.

4. Consumers will leave a review if you asked them

Fact: 7 out of 10 consumers will leave a review for your business, if you ask them to. Source

What this means for a small business: When you ask your customers to leave reviews on your page, they often do. Local reviews websites like VConnect provide brand aids to help you remind your customers to leave reviews. Request a FREE brand aid.

5. Consumers read few reviews before forming an opinion about a business

Fact: 90% of consumers read less than 10 reviews before forming an opinion about your business. Source

What this means to a small business: You don’t need as much as a 100 reviews before people form an opinion about your business. As little as 10 good reviews could get users to trust your business and buy from you.

6. Star ratings have impacts too

Fact: A one-star rating increase can result in a 5-9% increase in revenue. Also, 58% of consumers claim that the star rating of a business is important. Source

What this means for a small business: On review platforms like VConnect, users can leave ratings in one click. So if your customers are reluctant to put in the rigour required to write reviews, simply ask them to rate your business.

7. Positive reviews would increase traffic to your website

Fact: 54% of people will visit your website after reading positive reviews. Source

What this means for a small business: Often, when people leave reviews, they also share it on their social networks. Review sites often bundle this social media functionality with their website. Ask more customers to leave reviews; more people will see your business.

8. Reviews make consumers trust a local business more

Fact: 74% of consumers claim that positive reviews make them trust a local business more. Source

What this means for a small business: If your business doesn’t have reviews, people won’t trust you. It’s likely those people will buy from your competitor with reviews.

9. Customers assume reviews are fake if there are no negative reviews

Fact: 30% of consumers assume online reviews are fake if there are no negative reviews. Source

What this means for a small business: Having both negative and positive reviews is not a bad thing, people tend to trust mixed reviews than those with only positive reviews.

10. Consumers trust reviews than product descriptions

Fact: Consumer reviews are 12 times more trusted than the product description. Source

What this means to a small business: People don’t believe what you say your product does, they believe what other people say it does.

11. Reviews help sell more higher-priced items

Fact: Online reviews impact more sales for higher priced items. Source

What this means for a small business: When people want to buy higher-priced items, they are more careful. Because more money is leaving their hands, they want to make sure they are getting the best deal. Reviews help customers overcome this concern. Reviews could be your most effective strategy is you are selling an upmarket item.

12. Reviews impact on businesses’ search ranking

Fact: Reviews can have an impact of up to 10% on a business’s search rankings. Source

What this means for a small business: Search engines like to serve up results that they consider most relevant. One of the ways search engines determine your ranking is the volume of relevant content about your business. On VConnect, the local business search engine, a combination of the number of reviews and profile completion determine your ranking.

13. Customers would call a business after reading positive reviews

Fact: 9% of customers would call a business after reading positive reviews. Source

What this means for a small business: The possibility of getting calls is high when you have reviews compared to businesses without reviews.

14. Lots of negative reviews can discourage customers

Fact: Negative reviews about your company or product can risk you losing 67% of potential customers. Source

What this means to a small business: Although, a few negative reviews can give your business authenticity, (refer 7) too many of them will give people pause about doing business with you.

15. Reviews written within a month is considered relevant

Fact: 44% of consumers say a review must be written within a month to be considered relevant. Source

What this means for a small business: Consumers find fresh reviews relevant. Keep persuading your customers to leave reviews on your page.

16. Consumers would purchase a product after one week of reading reviews.

Fact: 89% of users will make a purchase within one week of reading reviews. Source

What this means for a small business: Reviews are the major factors when buying a product online. People would be drawn to your business from reviews they find online and make a purchase within a week.

17. Reviews help increase sales

Fact: Reviews produce an average of 18% uplift in sale. Source

What this means for a small business: Considering the fact that online reviews draw consumers to business, this will increase the sale of your products or services.

18. Responding to reviews help

Fact: 26% of consumers say it is important that a local business respond to its reviews. Source

What this means for a small business: Engaging with your consumers helps bring them closer. It’ll build trust and increase loyal customers.

19. Reviews give you visibility

Fact: 90% of customers don’t go beyond Google’s first page. Source

What this means for a small business: People get lazy to check the next page on the Google search results page. More reviews will help your business move to the first page. So ask for more reviews.

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VConnect is Nigeria’s largest business discovery, and review site. Connect with more than 2 million ready-to-buy customers and build your online reputation for free through ratings and reviews. Register on VConnect to start.

Each review is a form of advertising for your business. Your name and product are exposed to readers, increasing their awareness of who you are and what you do. VConnect provides brand aids that help local businesses inspire their customers to review them. Click here to get them for FREE.

Choosing a new phone seems like an easy enough task but the truth is, it could be one of the most defining decisions you’ll have to make this year. Good smartphones don’t come cheap, so you might as well get good value for your money. With the superb choices in the market, the tyranny of choice may lead you to make an obvious but uninformed choice. But fear not, having choices is also a good thing, if you’re guided with the knowledge and information to help make your choice smarter and simpler.
Now let’s begin:

1. Operating System

First things first, what operating system would best suit your mobile needs. If you’re not tech inclined, there are four mobile operating systems, each with its own benefits;

Android: Developed by Google, android is an open source operating system that runs on the majority of new phones. Android has the most robust apps store in comparison to other operating systems called Google Play filled with Google services. The main issue with Android is that because it’s open source. Manufacturers like Samsung and HTC often modify its design and functionality, sometimes to the detriment of usability, while other manufacturers like Huawei modify to increase and improve usability.

BlackBerry: If you’re hooked on BBM or love physical keyboards and small screens, then you should go for the Blackberry. The OS is made by Canadian company, Research in Motion, and it helped kick off the smartphone revolution years ago, but it has had difficulty keeping up lately. Furthermore, most Blackberry devices have slower hardware and lack some of the core amenities that Android and iOS offer.

iOS: iPhone is the only phone that runs iOS and Apple intends on keeping it that way. The iPhone seems to be the benchmark for mobile technology, but as more options become available, it’s slowly no longer the standard on which all other phones are measured. If you own other Apple devices or enjoy services like ITunes, the iPhone may be a good option for you. Sadly, it doesn’t allow as much curious exploration with software as the Android does, but it has a clean and simple design. Unfortunately, unlike Huawei smartphones, for instance, which allow you download music and videos on your device at will, Apple products, much to the dismay of music lovers, prevents you from this key feature.

Windows Phone: After the failure of Windows Mobile, Microsoft started from scratch and built Windows Phone, which is based almost entirely on the Zune MP3 player interface. The great thing about the Windows phone is that everything on your homepage can display moving information or graphics.
Instead of relying on a grid of shortcuts and a notification tray, Windows Phone uses Live Tiles, which are half app icon, half widget.

 

2. Screen size

Big screens are so in trend that carrying a small screened phone makes you seem kind of crazy and old-fashioned. Larger screens make the mobile experience so much better, but small screens don’t necessarily mean less power. The iPhone SE with a small screen of 4.4 inches combines power plus no stretchy thumbs. But if you’re looking for the best of both worlds – large screen, power, and awesome features – then the Huawei GR5 mini with the sweet spot size of 5.2 inches and with its ultra-thin and chic design to avoid stretchy thumbs is your best bet.

 

3. Music download

Majority of us use our phones for three important things – calls, texts and music. Personally, the ability to download music is the most important factor in the phone selection process. For the iPhone there’s the iTunes. Although being part of the Apple community makes you feel like you’re part of a family, I think I’m going to run away from home simply because I recently found that on Android I can download music directly from the internet and straight to my phone! Not only this, you can send songs to fellow android users via Bluetooth! You can’t do this on the iPhone, even if both sharers use an iPhone. If you think of it, android seems more like a family than iOS. So why settle for an iPhone when you can go for a Huawei or an HTC?

 

4. Camera

I think this should have been the first on the list, because with Instagram, Snapchat and other social media platforms, it is critical to impress your followers. Hence the need for a phone with a camera that you can actually call a camera. Basically, all top tier smartphone manufacturers have cameras from Apple to Huawei to Samsung to Windows but the question is which of them have the best camera? With a Dual lens camera, crafted in partnership with Leica; the leading camera manufacturing company, the Huawei P9 camera produces more light than both the Samsung S7 and IPhone 6s, making the Huawei P9 camera clearly superior. Plus with the monochrome and clarity camera features, all your photos and selfies will come out looking incredible!

 

5. Battery life

This is one feature that I regret not prioritizing when selecting my phone. If you have an iPhone you basically have something I like to call BLA – Battery Life Anxiety. It’s when you’re constantly in need of that power bank or looking for a wall socket or laptop to charge your phone. Sometimes it always seems like your phone runs out of power when you need it the most. So when you’re looking for a new phone, be sure to check the strength of the battery. Make sure you don’t go for anything less than 3000mAH. Phone manufacturers now recognize the grave importance of battery life and are squeezing greater-capacity batteries into their phones. Typical phone batteries start in the neighborhood of 700mAh and can go all the way up to 4,000mAh, like the Huawei Mate 8.

 

6. Price

While all these features are important, price always seems to be the key deciding factor to most especially young people still in school and young professionals. What we fail to understand is that the cost of a phone is not just the figure on the price tag but the value of the phone to us and how much it satisfies our mobile needs. While you could get a new iPhone 6s for about N230, 000, some people see this as not much considering the actual value of the phone, some may simply pay more for an iPhone simply because it’s an iPhone. Others would prefer to go for something a bit different with better quality, more functionality and staying power, at a similarly high but more acceptable price of 170,000 and above like a Huawei smartphone or a windows phone.

 

Bonus Tip: The fact that everyone is buying it, does NOT mean it’s the best. This is becoming increasingly clear with some of the amazing new devices we see from Android phone companies.

Garanntor is a hosting company and an accredited domain registrar that officially launched in November, 2016 at its Tier III data centre in Lagos.

The company is the first in the industry to host all its infrastructure in Nigeria without ever hosting outside the country, and it offers Infrastructure-as-a-Service solutions to developers, SMEs, NGOs, corporate and government organizations. Garanntor’s infrastructure is engineered to deliver services that are in line with global standards. It is built for speed and offers three of levels redundancy, its service level agreement on hardware and connectivity is 99.9%.

It all started with a market gap – a client mentioned the need for a cloud hosting company with data centre located locally that can match global standards, to the Managing Director, Olalekan Ajayi, who has been in the IT industry for 10 years. It was something along the lines of a cloud company that “guarantees” 100% uptime to fulfil businesses growing demand for next-gen IT services which was proficient and would not cost an arm and a leg. Garanntor went the extra mile to include 24-hour customer service and support to assist our customers every step of the way, at any time, on the phone, social media, email, live chat.

With Garanntor, Nigerians now have access to affordable, fast, premium data hosting services which include, but are not limited to – domain names, virtual private servers, cloud servers, web hosting, web security, cloud solutions, content delivery network, application hosting, cloud storage, disaster recovery and colocation.

Visit www.garanntor.ng for more information on Garanntor.

Goodbye to long queues and unsatisfactory customer service experiences as Etisalat Nigeria introduces a revolutionary Self-service platform called My Etisalat. My Etisalat which is an upgrade from the Easy Mobile app introduced earlier this year comes with an exciting variety of services that are designed to enhance customer experience on the network.

The platform which can be accessed via an app and on the web, empowers Etisalat customers with a vast bouquet of features and functions which allow them to manage all their Etisalat accounts without the need to remember, text or dial codes.

Speaking at a demo event to unveil the platform, which had in attendance tech bloggers and On Air Personalities such as Folu Storms and Sope Martins both of Smooth FM among others, the Chief Product and Information Officer, Etisalat Nigeria, Otuyemi Otule, said the platform is an industry game changer as it simplifies the experience and journey of Etisalat customers across its various digital platforms.

“Etisalat self-service platform gives customers full access to their account information and available services. With this innovative service, Etisalat customers can now enjoy greater as it gives them control over their preferences on the network. The self-service platform also offers unique security features that enable customers to disable their lines if stolen”, he stated.

More thrilling benefits of My Etisalat include: live support anytime and from anywhere in the world; customers can view, opt-in and opt-out of services; they can add features; manage all their Etisalat lines from one place; view their loyalty status and instantly redeem rewards. Another interesting feature of MyEtisalat is that it is a zero-rated service, which means Etisalat customers do not need to run their data to use the application.

My Etisalat application is available on all major application platforms such as iOS, Android, Blackberry and Windows.

 

As expected, the circle of innovators and entrepreneurs was abuzz as the winners of the 2016 edition of the Etisalat Prize for Innovation were unveiled at a prestigious award ceremony which held at the Eko Hotel and Suites, Lagos following the submission of innovative products/services and ideas.

The Most Innovative Product and Services category award was won by a team of three men comprising Ojeniyi James, Adegoke Olubusi and Oluwole Gbenga whose entry called “OneMedical”, came out tops to win the N5 million coveted prize.

In the Most Innovative Idea category, Tobilola Ajibola took home the N2 million prize money for her idea, “Dresses by Aloli”, which was adjudged the most outstanding.

The prizes were presented by the Chief Executive Officer of Etisalat Nigeria, Matthew Willsher. Some of the notable dignitaries who attended the event include the Director General, National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP) Dr. DanAzumi Mohammed Ibrahim and the Chief Executive Officer, MainOne, Ms. Funke Opeke.

“With Etisalat Prize for Innovation, we demonstrate our belief that innovation is timeless and can be found in the most unlikely places, and created by the most unlikely people. We believe that the change Nigeria needs to move forward can be created through innovative products, services and ideas,” says Matthew Willsher.

Etisalat Prize for Innovation was created in 2012 and has discovered and empowered a number of young creative Nigerian entrepreneurs by giving them the opportunity to showcase innovative products, services and ideas that address specific problems in the society and contribute to the nation’s socio-economic growth.

 

 

Huawei launched an ICT Center in a State Secondary School in Lagos, Nigeria. The opening ceremony had in attendance the Public Relations Manager Huawei Technologies Nigeria Limited Mrs. Fancy Feng Hongjuan, Human Resource Manager Huawei Technologies Nigeria Limited Mr Lucas Xufeng, NYSC Lagos State Coordinator Mr Cyril Akhanemhe, Zone B, Zonal Inspector Mrs. Tokunbo Ashade, Assistant Director, Head Corps Development & Relocation Mrs. Maria Osadebe, the Directors of Friends of The Environment, Mr. Ifeanyi Maduka and Mrs. Kunbi Adesokan, and members of the zonal NYSC batch.

The School’s ICT Center was refurbished by Huawei with Internet-enabled desktops, a projector system, 3-in-1 laser copier system, and air conditioning.

Ebube Oti, the NYSC member who initiated the project thanked Huawei for Sponsoring the project and spoke about the motivation for the project. He further enlightened about his passion for students and their urgent need for Computers and Internet services, especially for exam registration.

Fancy Feng Hongjuan, the Public Relations Manager for Huawei Technologies Nigeria Limited, said during her speech at the event, that Huawei saw this project as an opportunity to leverage on the Lagos State initiative for Digital and ICT Libraries in State schools.

She further discussed the Huawei campaign Mantra: Focus, Perseverance and Breakthrough, which were values demonstrated by all parties involved in the project’s success. The Public Relations Manager later concluded her speech by further explaining how the project was implemented with their partner non-governmental organisation Friends of the Environment.

The Lagos State NYSC Coordinator Mr Cyril Akhanemhe commended the effort of the Youth Corper Ebube Oti for initiating the project, Huawei Technologies Nigeria Limited for supporting, and Friends of the Environment for planning and implementing the project.

He further stated that if more corporate organizations could emulate Huawei’s efforts, the effect on Nigerian students will be tremendous.

About Huawei
Huawei is a leading global information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider. Our aim is to enrich life and improve efficiency through a better connected world, acting as a responsible corporate citizen, innovative enabler for the information society, and collaborative contributor to the industry.

Driven by customer-centric innovation and open partnerships, Huawei has established an end-to-end ICT solutions portfolio that gives customers competitive advantages in telecom and enterprise networks, devices and cloud computing. Huawei’s 170,000 employees worldwide are committed to creating maximum value for telecom operators, enterprises and consumers.

Our innovative ICT solutions, products and services are used in more than 170 countries and regions, serving over one-third of the world’s population. Founded in 1987, Huawei is a private company fully owned by its employees.
For more information, please visit Huawei online at
www.huawei.com or follow us on:
http://www.linkedin.com/company/Huawei
http://www.twitter.com/Huawei
http://www.facebook.com/Huawei
http://www.google.com/+Huawei
http://www.youtube.com/Huawei

Talk they say is cheap. Nigeria has been talking all these while, and we’ve only landed where we are. All talks and no action does no nation any good.

The introduction above probably sums up your perception of summits and conferences in Nigeria. People come to sit and talk, enjoy some delicacies, network and then after, forget they ever mentioned anything noteworthy. It is not that the ‘talks’ aren’t valid, insightful and loaded with potential solutions; it is rather the will to act that remains our Achilles’ heel.

This was my thought as I travelled for the 22nd NESG summit aptly tagged ‘Made in Nigeria’. It ties into what everyone had been preaching right from the previous administration. Campaigns like the Dora Akunyili led ‘Great Nation’ to the most recent ‘Buy Naija to Grow Naija’ championed by Senator Ben Bruce have dotted our media space – all without a trail to real success. Another #MadeinNigeria drive didn’t look to be of meaningful impact except that this time, The Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) was the one calling the shots. The NESG is Nigeria’s most authoritative economic policy research think tank, so they deserved full attention.

As I attended the discussions and moved through interesting break away sessions where more detailed conversations happened, I started getting a sense of hope. Our leader, President Muhammadu Buhari, his vice Prof Yemi Osinbajo and other Ministers of the Federal republic not only showed how important the summit and theme was, but also set the pace in driving the #madeinNigeria agenda.

I think we should all understand that the current policies, set by the government are all gradually stirring us toward sustainable local consumption. I do not doubt the hardship that this will come with, and the sacrifice it requires by all for us to record an attainable level success. There is a saying that ‘far-reaching and worthwhile change is difficult in the beginning, terrible in the middle and a sight to behold at the end’ . The Journey to attain the circumstance we so desire will not be too different and we have to come to terms with it. that said, I strongly believe that Nigeria is on the brink of a recovery, we only need to believe and work towards it.

At the end of it all came the summary of the summit. It captured everything from the various sessions and discussions. Five key sub-themes were highlighted and put forward by the panelist, industrialist and government officials as key areas that need attention. NESG summed these themes into a ‘Will of progress’. I prefer ‘wheels of progress’ because when each wheel moves, it, in turn drive the other. The wheels are set as motor gears, each independent but interdependent.

The NES22 ‘Wills of Progress’ mentions the following.

• The need to change our our attitude and behavior to already existing made in Nigeria attempts (products, services, technology and mentality).
• The next gear on the will was on the need to establish a surefooted and clear communication of policies to engender investor and citizen confidence which should be driven by a well articulated National Development Plan which sets our developmental priorities, choices and paths straight and is accessible locally and internationally for anyone willing to invest. A clear example is taken from the Rwanda success story.
• The need to improve the ‘Ease of Doing Business’ in Nigeria was charged to the presidency as a front burner.
• On finance, the summit suggests the development which allows banks provide long-term capital for on-lending as well as a review of things excluded on the FOREX Market.

• On technology, the summit is of the opinion that having tech hubs and corridors laden with tech infrastructures in key cities alongside creative industrial parks and alternative sources and renewable energy should be the next priority.

The full breakdown is available on the NESG App when you download it (app download link –http://ow.ly/FTc4305NZph).

Talk is cheap, the ‘wills of progress’ should really be what they are – A WILL! Not just from the government or the NESG but from all of us. In the meantime NESG maintains it will continue to meet and discuss and call relevant stakeholders.

ON our part as an individual, we owe it a duty to reach out and challenge the government, NESG and most importantly, the media, so everyone is kept on their toes to deliver on what #MadeinNigeria truly entails i.e. economic growth and self sustainability.

We have easy access to information like never before. By 2018, analysts forecast that information available to build your business would have doubled – think away from megabyte to zettabyte worth of information!

It is so easy to get lost while sifting through thousands of information to find the one you need for your business.

However, without getting the data you need, it’s impossible to close new business, increase sales and predict the future of your organization.

That is the reason why Oracle is hosting Oracle Digital Day, with the theme: Innovation to grow. Insights to control.

Join hundreds of other professionals across industries such as Oil and Gas, Manufacturing, Retail & Distribution, Telecoms, Technology, Public Sector, amongst others as we delve into the opportunities and challenges that comes with this era of digital transformation and the tools, resources and strategies companies are using to stay ahead.

This event, is scheduled to hold at Intercontinental hotel, Victoria Island Lagos on November 2nd, 2016. It will feature interactive sessions and a line-up of keynotes speakers with expertise in digital strategy across the region.
Click here to register now for #OracleDigitalDay 2016

I needed a phone.

And as every other time I had bought a phone; I brooded, browsed and asked every human I knew for their opinion.
This time, I even carried out a twitter poll to find out which phone was the hottest in the market, most especially because the last time I bought a phone (2 years ago) the Nigerian phone scene was not as crowded.

After much ado, the Gionee F103 Pro crossed several hurdles – price range, size and above all….CAMERA quality and I welcomed it into my life.

It’s been a month and I have written a love letter to celebrate our anniversary together because it has been nothing short of amazing.

Dear G,

Before you, I rarely took pictures and my nice makeup and dressing went to waste a lot.

After you, there’s not a wasted outfit. Every day is a day to flaunt, smile and pose.

You have opened me up to things I did not know about me since your pro feature with inbuilt Photoshop is making me this professional photographer; a character I love.

You don’t just tell me how beautiful I am, you go the extra mile to make me more beautiful with your face beauty offering that smoothens, brightens and slims my face to give me that celebrity look.

With you there is no bad day or weather or condition, since your 13mp rear and 5mp frontal camera with screen flash makes every moment bright and clear.

You teach me new things and help me keep up with the trend with your gif enabler. I so love it.

And the most amazing of all is how you care for me and hate to see me stress, that’s why your text recognition feature enables me take pictures of a text and you make it editable words on the screen.

Sometimes, I think I stress you and you remind me that your 16G Rom and 2G Ram came prepared and can handle all of these.

You truly are a gentle buddy.

I can never regret owning you again and again, I will always pick you.

To the friends who introduced me and reassured me in my moment of doubt, to those who have their smiling, sad and grumbling Selfies on your gigantic memory space and to those who made your GIF feature a lifestyle. I say thank you

Thank you for introducing me to the best Tech thing.

I appreciate the hookup.

And to the guys at Gionee, thanks for finally giving a girl all the camera love she needs, the F103 Pro surely did not disappoint.

With Etisalat’s new package you get greater value for your money and a satisfied experience which is why the new plan is called Easylife Complete.

Easylife Complete is a simple flat tariff plan that allows customers to enjoy calls to all networks in Nigeria at 15k/s and also make calls to anyone in the US, UK, Canada, China, India, Germany, and Malaysia at the same 15k/s. In order to enjoy this affordable tariff plan, a N5 daily fee is applicable for prepaid customers.

Get ready to enjoy the power of 15 with the Easylife Complete plan. It provides customers with free 15 minutes to call friends, family and anyone on the Etisalat network as well as free 15 minutes data which they can use to catch up on online updates or browse their favourite sites. These benefits are also available on Post-paid.

“The purpose of the Easylife Complete is to innovate with products, services, and solutions that make life a lot easier for our customers. Easylife Complete is a testament of our customer-oriented attitude; through our quarterly Customer Forums and other platforms. We constantly obtain feedback from our customers and we respond appropriately in meeting their needs and preferences,” says Director, Consumer Segment, Etisalat Nigeria, Adeolu Dairo

For an easier life, dial *620*1#.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fk-XKGJ39wY

Just in case you already swapped your SIM card and lost precious contacts, in a bid to switch to 4G LTE, believe me, you need not have. If you are on the Etisalat network, you do not have to swap your SIM to enjoy 4G LTE services.

“On the Etisalat network, 4G LTE from 3G is just a click away. No need to change your SIM. We promised to make things easy and trust us to deliver,” says Adebisi Idowu, Vice President, Marketing.

“We are more particular about enhancing lifestyles with the quality of Etisalat 4G LTE. There are so many people, doctors, retailers, content developers, who want to get online, make calls and communicate to have an impact. They want to do it now, without the stress of network quality. That is what 4G is about. Superfast broadband internet with uninterrupted connectivity, clearer voice calls, flawless online streaming, HD-quality videos and more. We’ve been working hard on taking 4G beyond Lagos and hope to be live across the country soon,” he said.

Reviews are already coming in from Lagos. TV personalities, Zainab Balogun, Gideon Okeke and Illrymz were among the subscribers who shared their Etisalat 4G experience.

Gideon’s take on the Etisalat 4G: “Superfast. No buffering. No kidding.” As for Illrymz: “Imagine streaming online with clients and my audience, live from the studio, without worrying about glitches. That’s the 4G experience. Perfect for me,” he said.

Zainab was glad Etisalat had considered various choices and pricing for its wide range of consumer needs.

Jennifer Mba, another customer and a 19-year-old student, was equally excited. ‘Music download and movie streaming are unbelievably clearer, and without a single pause. When I search on Google, the results come in almost at the same time I clicked go. No blurred images, no waiting, no booting, just instant internet access,’ she said.

Etisalat Nigeria launched its mobile 4G Long Term Evolution (4G LTE) last week. It certainly seems the telco is off to a great start and sustaining the momentum.

Ending malaria in Nigeria for good is a core part of Etisalat’s contribution towards a healthy nation as the disease is responsible for 60% outpatient visits to health facilities, 30% childhood death, 25% of death in children under one year and 11% maternal death.

In order to tackle the large number of malaria cases and deaths in the country, Etisalat Nigeria signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Cross River State Government in partnership with Mediatrix Development Foundation to fight the dreaded scourge.

“A nation can only be economically buoyant if it has a vibrant and strong work force, and a healthy population; hence our identification of health as one of our key platforms for Corporate Social Responsibility. As we play our part in the creation of a healthier nation, we enjoin all stakeholders to embrace technology and innovation in the fight against malaria.” Says Ikenna Ikeme, the Director, Regulatory & Corporate Social Responsibility, Etisalat Nigeria.

Wife of the Cross River State Governor and founder of the partner NGO, Mediatrix Development Foundation, Dr. (Mrs) Linda Ayade, also present expressed delight in the capacity of the partnership to help fill the existing gap in the fight against malaria by providing the much needed support to the State structures in the health sector.

The Etisalat Fight Malaria Initiative will aid the establishment of up to 40 Malaria Clubs in primary, secondary and tertiary institutions across the state with a mandate to reach approximately 25,000 people in the rural and urban areas, create a Malaria Hub of 2,650 peer educators and 3,150 Malaria Champions within two years.

Netflix, the World’s leading Internet TV service and Spectranet, Nigeria’s leading 4G broadband service provider, today announced the deployment of one of the first dedicated Netflix servers in Africa. This high capacity server will hold the entire Netflix content library, in Lagos, providing Spectranet’s customers with the best possible video streaming performance. This solution offers faster delivery in a cost effective way.

Mr David Venn, CEO of Spectranet, said “because we focus on providing families with an excellent and affordable broadband service, this partnership with Netflix means that our customers will be able to enjoy the very best TV experience available in Nigeria. We are honoured that Netflix has selected Spectranet for one of its first deployments in Africa and the only one in West Africa.”

Netflix offers a new way of watching TV, giving its members the ability to enjoy TV series and films when, how and where they want with seamless, instant access across TVs, tablets, smartphones, game consoles and computers. Netflix offers a great entertainment experience with many titles available in high-definition with Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 surround sound and some in Ultra HD 4K and HDR.

With fast.com, a simple-to-use website that helps people see how fast their Internet connection is, whether on mobile or broadband – Netflix offers an independent tool that consumers can use for greater insight and control of their Internet service.

People in Nigeria can try Netflix for free for one month by signing up at www.netflix.com.

About Spectranet
Spectranet is Nigeria’s leading broadband network operator and uses the latest 4G LTE technology to deliver fast and affordable Internet service to families and businesses. Current coverage includes; Lagos, Abuja, Ibadan and Port Harcourt. Spectranet has won many awards including the recent “Broadband Company of the Year, 2016” awarded at the Nigerian Telecom Awards ceremony.

Over the years, fashion magazines and Models have made us all believe that beautiful photographs are exclusive to a select few. This has made some people so comfortable hiding behind the scenes that they could almost bet their lives they aren’t cool for the cameras.

This self-imposed belief has been further aggravated with a cool phrase “I am not so photogenic”, whereas, we are all equally beautiful – it just takes a picture from a great camera phone like the Gionee S6s to see it.The new Gionee S6S is a spectacle that beholds beauty in every place, and exquisitely carves it to perfection. While most other phone cameras reflect beauty, the Gionee S6s amplifies it.

In addition to the alluring 13MP REAR CAMERA AND 8MP FRONT camera the Gionee possesses, it has a plethora of other exciting features that is sure to earn the phone a place in your mind’s favourite spot

There is no condition too dark or too ugly for the Gionee S6s as it combines an arsenal of SCREEN AND SELFIE FLASH to eradicate any worries imperfect lighting may pose, making selfies a great delight. Regardless of the environment, the face beauty feature inherent in the Gionee S6s has an updated algorithm that can beautify every part of the skin, make lip colour rosy and even emphasize more details on eyelashes.

With beautiful options available on the phone, the only problem you will have is the most beautiful picture to choose. With exciting modes like PANORAMA, HIGH DYNAMIC RANGE, PROFESSIONAL, SMART SCENE, MOOD PHOTO, GIF, SLOW MOTION, MACRO, ULTRA PIXEL, SMART SCAN and a host of others, owning the new Gionee S6S means you are in for a swell time. It has also got a unique text recognition feature that helps extract text from pictures. Instead of typing an entire document, you can just take a snapshot of it with the Gionee S6s, which then goes ahead to extract the text so you can edit easily.

Everything about the Gionee S6s is beautiful. Beyond what it captures, even how it captures is beautiful. The Gionee S6S has been modified for stress-less taking of selfies and pictures at various angles with a FINGERPRINT Capture behind the phone.

The S6s adopts a 5.5 INCH IPS FHD DISPLAY to infuse your interface experience with more amazing visuals. With a 3GB RAM and 32 GB internal memory, there’s enough room to indulge for as long as you want. This also suggests gaming, multitasking, and excellent video quality are pieces of cake for the GIONEE S6s masterpiece.

The Gionee S6s does more than a phone should. It has an in-built video editor that provides professional editing for videos and a recycle bin where you can find and restore photos deleted for as long as seven days.

The Gionee S6s has got GSM, FDD, WCDMA, CDMA, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS, Amigo 3.2, and DTS technology. Its processor, the Mediatek MT6753, has an average performing central processing unit with a speed of 1.3GHz. As the new Gionee S6S prepares to grace the market by the end of October, when next someone tells you, “I am not photogenic”, the perfect response should be “it’s not you, it’s your phone. Then prove it to them with the new Gionee S6s”.

The Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG) summit finally came to an end yesterday. During the opening ceremony and introduction speech on the state of the economy by Dr. Doyin Salami, Chairman, NESG Board Committee on research and publication said that “If made-in-Nigeria must succeed, it should not be the challenge of the federal government alone. All the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital territory (FCT) must have a role to play,”

Dr. Salami lamented that the country’s current economic indices were far from ideal, stressed the need to embrace the imperatives of local competitiveness and productiveness, as well as ability to create and add value to the economy.

The second day of the summit then saw tech professionals and government agencies sub minds in a breakout sessions that covered ICT and innovations. Other breakout sessions covered innovations, MSMEs, Services, Manufacturing, Agro Processing and the Creative Industry. Each breakout session was tasked to answer key questions and proffer solutions which the NESG can adopt and proposed to the government as opportunities to be tapped into for driving technology as a major driver for the Nigerian economy. In the breakout sessions covered ICT and innovations, quality, cost of work, taxation and lack of growth centres were cited as key reasons technology remains at the back drum of GDP contributors.

The summit ended by offering strategies the government an employ. The summit suggested that government should create tech hubs in various states and that the hubs should have all necessary infrastructures to operate. The summary document was presented to the president who was represented by Senator Udo Udoma, Minister for Budget and National Planning

Canon has set another significant milestone in its overall growth strategy with the launch of its operations in Nigeria, with the goal of enhancing its business in the African continent and strengthening its in-country presence and focus.

The dedicated entity in Nigeria has been set up to further reinforce the company’s ‘closer to customer’ strategy in West Africa region. Canon Nigeria Imaging Solutions Limited will provide value added on-ground marketing and sales support to new and existing partners and customers meeting their demand in the rapidly evolving Nigeria market

The presence in Nigeria will also provide Canon the opportunity to gain in-depth reach across Africa, and to better understand the changing market dynamics and customer demand.

The newly set up entity will be under the directives of Canon Central and North Africa’s office in Dubai and will include two Country Managers who will oversee the provision of on-ground support to Tier 1 distributors across the country. This is in addition to a dedicated Sales planning manager, based out of the Canon office in Dubai, who will be responsible for all Tier 1 operations across West African markets.

CCNA also intends to appoint five Channel Account Managers in the country in 2017 to support its Tier 2 Dealer network, and enhance the brand presence and visibility in the market.

Roman Troedthandl, Managing Director of CCNA, said: “Strengthening our operations in Nigeria is a testament to our commitment to invest in African markets and provide the best possible services to our customers and partners in the region. We will further enhance our network of distributors and partners in Nigeria and across West Africa. The market has seen substantial growth in the past, and has tremendous potential for further growth.

“Nigeria, with the largest population of over 180 million within Africa and the high MASH growth potential, is a key market for Canon. It is an important hub in Industrial & Production Printing segment, and has a thriving film industry – all of which Canon can support through our value added services. Our goal is to extend our services to the largest number of customers possible by being closer to them.”

To cultivate strategic business partnerships Canon has strengthened its regional network and presence by partnering with Tenaui Africa Ltd to open its dedicated showroom for B2B solutions in Nigeria.
Canon also has a long standing partnership with MFI International group for the distribution of Canon products, after sales services and MPS solutions across Sub Saharan Africa.

With Canon’s global document imaging solutions, Tenaui and MFI’s local expertise, clients from the Nigeria market will benefit from maximization of resources, improved delivery and acceleration in productivity
Canon has also partnered with Jamaica Trading, IT World and Technology Distribution for CE & IT Channel; Taichi Holdings as Selphy Specialist partner; C2S as Pro Video Specialist Sales and Service Partner; MACET Ind. for Retail Channel and Ensure as B2C Service partner.

These partnerships reflect Canon’s focus on the growing market in Nigeria.

Over the years, Nigeria has pursued economic reforms to enhance the management of public finance and make business regulations more efficient. With GDP (PPP) of around US$1.0 trillion, the economy recorded a compound annual growth of 6.2% .

E-Terra Technologies Ltd is a young, pioneering e-waste management company that is poised to keep Nigeria evergreen and sustainable, in response to new technological challenges to our rich vibrant ecosystem that includes the world’s largest continental mangrove swamp.

Over the last decades, the electronics industry has revolutionized the world. Electrical and electronic products like computers, servers, printers, mobile phones and more have become universal.

Without these products, modern life would not be possible in post industrialized and industrializing countries. However, despite the huge benefits of these products, the environmental degradation and pollution generated by indiscriminate disposal of electronic waste (or e-waste) has raised the bar on the need for global environmental protection.

E-waste is one of the fastest growing waste streams around the world, growing at a rate of 3–5% per annum or approximately three times faster than normal municipal solid waste. It is worthy of note that Nigeria currently generates between 650,000 and 1,000,000 tons of domestic e-waste annually (about 50% within Lagos alone).

Improper electronic waste disposal is not only harmful to man and the environment, it also exposes organizations and individuals to identity and intellectual property theft.

Global tracking of cyber-attacks indicate that Nigeria is among countries with the highest cases of software piracy, identity and intellectual property theft and malware attacks, some of which are attributable to poor e-waste management.

E-Terra Technologies Ltd is a pioneering private “end-to-end” e-waste management service provider in Lagos, Nigeria registered with Federal Ministry of Environment (FMENV) and Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA).

Our operations are strictly in line with in
ternational best practices, of which we intend to surpass and become a benchmark going forward. The company is young, fast growing, very capable and truly Nigerian. Our vision is to be the leading eco-friendly, highly effective and profitable end-to-end e-waste management company in West Africa, commencing from Nigeria.

The core services of E-Terra Technologies Ltd include:
1. E-waste collection and eco-friendly disposal;
2. E-waste Refurbishing;
3. Destruction of data-containing devices
4. I.T Asset decommissioning.

These eco-friendly electronic waste management solutions can be delivered nationwide on site or off site at customers’ request and convenience.

As we celebrate our independence as a nation; avoid financial and health crisis by properly disposing or recycling your unwanted electronic devices and permanently destroying all data containing storage components therein in an eco-friendly manner.

GO GREEN, GO E-TERRA. www.eterra.com.ng

Watch E-Terra’s Official TVC : click here
Listen to E-Terra’s Official Radio Jingle : click here

Web Summit is the world’s fastest growing tech conference, having been considered by Forbes as “the best technology conference on the planet” and has grown from 400 attendees in 2010 to 42,000 attendees in 2015 in Dublin, Ireland. In 2015 the Web Summit gathered 1033 investors, 2141 startups and a total of 42,000 attendees from 134 countries.

This year, Web Summit will hold in Lisbon, Portugal and will feature The Nigeria Tech Summit where Nigeria Technology egg-heads will be opportune to network with international investors prepping for the Nigerian market. Nigeria Businesses will be specially highlighted at the Nigeria Tech Summit on the sidelines of the Web Summit. This is your chance to meet with renowned investors from around the world.

The Web Summit 2016 will take place from 7th – 10th November. 50,000 attendants are expected, which is made up of high-quality startups, investors, media, multinational corporations and leading tech companies. The Tech Summit is a one-day event where Nigeria delegates at the Web Summit, drawn from the tech community and other sectors will share thoughts and ideas with global top executives.

In addition to this, the 2016 Web Summit start-ups will get to meet the delegation with their new technology. The delegation will also meet with the Minister of Information and Technology of Portugal as Portugal has been identified as a country ready for business relationship with Nigeria hence the Tech Summit. The day will close with a dinner at Nigeria House, Portugal to be hosted by the Nigerian Ambassador.

There is so much value packed in this summit for technology inclined businesses and start-ups.

WHO GOES TO THE WEB SUMMIT?

In the past editions the Web Summit has hosted attendees and speakers such as Elon Musk, founder, CEO of Telsa Motors; Ed Catmull, President of Pixar; Mike Schroepfer, CTO of Facebook; Mik Krieger, co-founder of Instagram; Jack Dorsey founder of Twitter and Founder of Square.

Major companies have partnered with the Web Summit, such as Microsoft, Google, Samsung, Facebook, Twitter, and KPMG, and the event receives a large coverage from media such as CNN, CNBC, BBC, Reuters, Forbes, The Guardian and The Wall Street Journal.

For the Web Summit 2016 there are already high-level speakers confirmed, such as john Chambers, Executive Chairman of Board of Cisco; Joe Lonsdale, co-founder of Palantir Technologies and Formation 8; Adam Neumann, co-founder and CEO of WeWork; Paul Jacobs, Executive Chairman of Qualcomm; Mike Schropfer, CTO of Facebook; Kevin Chou co-founder and CEO of Jet.com; Carlos Ghosn, Chairman and CEO of Renault, Nissan and the Renault-Nissan Alliance; John Collison, co-founder of Stripe; and Peggy Johnson, Executive Vice President of Business Development of Microsoft, amongst others with many more to be announced in coming weeks.

Join the Nigeria delegates: Amplify your influence, trade on a global scale.

Register here now!

Follow the conversation on twitter, Facebook, Linkedin and Instagram

HolyCab is a startup that intends to add flexibility to options given to riders, increase earning for partners, and most importantly give drivers a chance to earn continuously even after they stop working – sorta like a pension.

HolyCab aims to rideshare as well as ‘earn share’. The idea behind earn sharing on the rideshare app is to circulate money amongst app users, partners and drivers; giving them a chance to earn for life. Current drivers signed on to the app are excited about having the opportunity to have something similar to a pension, partners are happy to have income coming in even during vehicle downtime, and riders stoked about being able to earn money with their own unique referral codes.

Unlike other e-taxi apps, HolyCab will not only deposit money to partners every week, but will also deposit money to bank accounts of riders and drivers every week. Tagged ‘Wealth by Wheels’ under the 10 to 1 promo (HolyCab’s gift to Nigeria on October 1st), HolyCab will start recording all earnings from rider, driver and partner referral codes and push earned amounts to respective accounts.

The unreal reality of HolyCab is the basis for its name. With so much app flexibility and rider options one would think its too good to be true. The app is flexible enough to go on wait time; so you’re charged less while driver waits and you do your grocery shopping; options such as scheduling for rides for inter-state trips and booking for a car before arriving Lagos via flight or bus transport.

It’s exciting to be able to provide this service to fellow Nigerians. E come be like say na we HOLY PASS.

If you are ever faced with the decision to choose an SAP solution for your company’s human resource, there is one that you would not regret recommending; it is SAP SuccessFactors provided by Twintech Technical Services (SAP partners in Nigeria).

During an event organized by Twintech on 22nd September, 2016 at the Radisson Blu hotel, which we were privileged to attend, the benefits and robustness of SAP SuccessFactors was discussed and presented in detail.

SAP SuccessFactors encompasses a robust yet simplistic system that manages typically all core human resource management, training, recruitment, workforce analytics, staff performance and planning processes for any company with the objective to affect positively, their business strategies and team executions.

Amongst the numerous reasons to make SuccessFactors the preferred SAP solution for your organization, here are the five that top the list for us:

1. User Experience – The general usability and design has been planned based on very current web standards that gives you a fluid and easy-to-use interface with no complexities.

2. Cloud-Based Computing – The idea of having to be physically present at your office before you can get work done on your SAP solution is totally gone. Now you can access it anywhere, anytime.

3. Customization – No one really wants to be confined to a space anymore, we all want the liberty to choose, especially when it comes to technology. SuccessFactors is completely scalable and as such, can easily be integrated with other existing solutions like Sage Finance (when it comes to Payroll matters) with other custom modules that can be installed to suit specific company requests.

4. Intelligence – No, this doesn’t mean AI (Artificial Intelligence) but it’s close to it. This is particularly advantageous to corporations that have a large overhead an in-turn larger data to mine. The system intelligently organizes your data providing you with charts and analysis for key performance index monitoring of your employees.

5. Recognized market leader – When companies as huge as Walt Disney can deploy SuccessFactors as their primary SAP solution, then it’s safe to say you will be making the right choice with SuccessFactors.

Kemi Oluremi (SAP Successfactors and HCM presales lead for West Africa at Twintech) also assured that the Twintech team are readily available to seat with interested companies to give them more details about SuccessFactors and also train their staff to use the solution when deployed. She reiterated that Twintech has a very responsive customer support team so interested organizations can alley any fears of not getting full-time support when the need arises.

Top companies like NNPC, UAC, Guinness, NBC (Coca-cola), Chams, Mikano, Frieslandcampina Wamco amongst a host of others from various industries (Oil & Gas, Banking & Insurance, FMCGs, Advertising & Media Agencies, E-Commerce and Technology) were ably represented at the event also.

To get in touch with Twintech, click here

The Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) has highlighted the need to embrace self-sufficiency as a viable alternative to improve Nigeria’s dwindling economy. The Group made the call during a press conference organised in Lagos to announce the 22nd Nigerian Economic Summit. The summit appropriately themed ‘Made in Nigeria’, is scheduled to hold from the 10th to 12th October at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja .

Speaking during the press conference, CEO, Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) Mr Jaiyeola Laoye, described the Made in Nigeria initiative as an economic growth and development strategy for Nigeria’s short, medium and long term development. Jaiyeola explained that Nigeria’s status as an import dependent and a huge consumption economy has led to negative economic growth, dwindling foreign reserves, and pressure on local currency exchange rate relative to major currencies.

Commenting on the rationale behind the theme ‘Made in Nigeria’, Jaiyeola maintained that the theme is not only necessary and timely, but will also be used to embody the imperative to commit to the structural and fiscal changes required to strengthen the Nigerian economy.

“Past editions of the Nigerian Economic Summit have made recommendations on self-sufficiency in local production and an export-driven economy. With our current economic realities, the NESG realises that this is the perfect opportunity to articulate a national discussion on ‘Made in Nigeria’ to promote the goods and services that are already up to standards for consumption, encourage exports and increase opportunities for SMEs,” he added.

Setting an agenda for the summit, foremost business consultant, financial analyst and columnist Opeyemi Agbaje, CEO, RTC Advisory Services Limited, commended the choice of this year’s theme, describing it as a step in the right direction, as long as the sentiments are objectively articulated.

Opeyemi observed that the country still needs to work on getting its policies right “For me, we still have to get our policies right, for example there should be discussions about attracting investors, which I would love to see addressed at the summit, secondly the foreign exchange conundrum needs to be fine-tuned.”

“We have spoken extensively on oil dependence, but I say that, Nigeria’s economy is diversified, since the contribution of the oil sector is reducing drastically as we have seen non-oil sector make significant contributions to the country’s GDP. However, Made in Nigeria for me means a very strong domestic non-oil sector, which comprises agriculture, manufacturing, tourism, education and other industries in Nigeria, exporting to the world. So in the end, we don’t just stop import, but we ensure to sell our made in Nigeria product, services and ideas to the world,” he concluded.

The 2016 Nigerian Economic Summit, NES #22, will provide a platform to sharpen the focus on the need for Nigeria to embrace the Made in Nigeria initiative by working out strategies to achieve self-sufficiency and value-addition capacities for several products and services in the shortest possible time. NES #22 will also facilitate stakeholders’ discussions/agreements on the practical issues, opportunities, policies and regulations needed for ‘Made in Nigeria’ to become an economic growth and development agenda.

They say everyone is looking for the phone that makes them complete.

Till they find it, their search is endless.

But, when they find it…..

You can’t deny the joy it brings as they unwrap that special phone, The Gionee F103 Pro

THE SPECIFICATIONS
• 2,400mAh Battery
• 5.0 Inches HD IPS incell
• 16GB ROM and 2GB RAM
• 13 MP rear camera and 5MP front camera
• MT 6735 (Quad Core, 1.3GHZ)
• GSM /WCDMA/CDMA/FDD/ TDD Network
• Amigo 3.2(Android 6.0) Bluetooth 4.0
• Dual Sim Dual Standby

The phone looks so alluring; they can’t wait to see what’s inside,
Yet, so precious, they don’t want to tear it.

After some minutes of sheepish smiles, they summon courage to tear it.

Booyah!!! And then they find the treasure
Slim, sleek, superb, beautiful, gorgeous, they run out of superlatives
They go on and on to find out what’s more?

First, they find the warranty card.

It’s safe to say the warranty card is just there to fulfill all righteousness. Rarely will anything go wrong with a Gionee F103 Pro phone. To prove this unrivalled durability, the Gionee F103 Pro gives a warranty of 15 months. Now, that’s confidence.
And then, OH! Here’s the lovely silicon transparent pouch.

As facts suggest, it is gonna last for as long as forever.

And then there’s the charger, USB cable and the battery.

Right here is the earpiece that emits only classic sounds.

Ok here’s everything, hmmm, lest I forget, there is an extra screen guard and then, there’s everything.

Now back to the phone.

They say it’s a slim sleek wonder. No wonder!

It’s got a screen flash, the Gionee F103 Pro is not a joking sturv, it is really made to Selfie regardless of bad light conditions. Well, here is the 5MP front camera.

Behold the audio jack

The USB port for charging and data transfer.

13 MP back camera with the Gionee logo; you know what the logo stands for right? Well, if you don’t know, it is “smiles. This phone will make anybody smile. That’s right.

Here’s the Speaker vent at the bottom to kick start the parry!!
Back to the matter

Enough of the merry-go-rounds put your Sim cards and memory card. Let’s put on our phone.

Awww, such beauty! The Gionee F103 PRO is an embodiment of splendor.

Simple yet exquisite, glamorous yet affordable, this is definitely the phone to buy.

Visit www.gionee.com.ng to participate in the Gionee online contest for a chance to win exciting prizes like the Gionee F103 Pro, N20, 000, N10, 000 and a host of other cash prizes and gifts.

 

The Nigerian Economic Summit Group invites you to join the discussion at the 22nd edition of the Nigerian Economic Summit that’s set to take place from October 10 – 12, 2016, at Transcorp Hilton, Abuja. The focus of this year’s Summit will be on technology, innovation and the need to set policies which will deepen the technology market and provide solutions to reap the benefits for a better placed Nigeria.

To say that we are not reaping the fruits of our past is tantamount to calling black white. Today’s recession is a conglomeration of everything that has been wrong with our economy, policy and lifestyle since the mid 70s and oil boom. However, the future is upon us and we must brace ourselves for what must be done.

The 22nd Nigerian Economic Summit has employed the theme, “Made in Nigeria” and experts are looking forward to leading discussions that will inform the structural and fiscal changes required to strengthen the Nigerian Economy.
As one of the most important and respected think-tank and research bodies in Nigeria, NESG has held its annual summit since 1996. Each year, it calls experts in fields relevant to the year’s discourse to proffer strategies, policies and discussion which should spark economic turnaround.

As one of the most important and respected think-tank and research bodies in Nigeria, NESG has held its annual summit since 1996. Each year, it calls experts in fields relevant to the year’s discourse to proffer strategies, policies and discussion which should spark economic turnaround.

This year, amidst recession and mounting pressure on the government to deliver on promises, NESG feels the theme is accurate and a round table discourse is paramount. This time calls for a revisit to our local content strategy.
It should be noted that in 2015, the technology and telecoms industry in Nigeria accounted for 8.7% of the GDP while the much touted oil accounted for 6.4%. In an industrial age where technology, efficient energy consumption and green energy are quickly becoming front burners, it still baffles industrialist and entrepreneurs why Nigeria seems stuck in the past.

It should be noted that in 2015, the technology and telecoms industry in Nigeria accounted for 8.7% of the GDP while the much touted oil accounted for 6.4%. In an industrial age where technology, efficient energy consumption and green energy are quickly becoming front burners, it still baffles industrialist and entrepreneurs why Nigeria seems stuck in the past.

A vital subset of today’s economy is technology. Just last month, Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg paid a surprise visit to Nigeria. His visit not only validated Nigeria as a tech hub in Africa but showcased the rich technology drive hidden in the nation’s youths. Yaba, projected to become Africa’s Silicon Valley, is budding with startups and technology businesses like Andela, CCHub, Konga to name just a few.

Our tech startups are getting funding from outside sources (although a growing local tech angel market is springing) and technology is challenging how we do things. Remitta, Paga and other fintech startups may soon disrupt the financial markets, grow financial inclusion and make every other aspect of the Nigerian economic frame work alive and accessible to the common man. Yet it seems the light hasn’t been fully beamed on its potentials.

The #NES22 theme is well placed at a perfect time in Nigeria’s economy. Recession may be a blessing after all, as it would awaken Nigerians to the need to truly go for ‘made-in-Nigeria’ goods/services a.k.a ‘buy Naija to grow Naija’.

You can register for the conference here. You can also join the online conversation via #NES22 or #madeinNigeria.

Infinix mobility recently launched the latest version of it’s customized user interface ‘XOS chameleon’ with the launch of Infinix HOT S & HOT 4 in August, the new user interface comes with the latest infinix smartphone Infinix note 3. The XOS UI is unique with all its amazing features to enable infinix smartphone users to optimize their smartphone usage.

How unique is the XOS and what makes it different from its predecessor XUI?

1.Security: The XOS chameleon UI helps to make your phone more secure with multiple unique security measures. They include the privacy protection feature, which limits the access to your smartphone with unrecognized SIM cards. The XOS also comes with Xhide and Freezer feature, which helps you to hide your sensitive applications from preying eyes. The XOS also offers another security feature with the ‘Xmanager’ to lock apps on your infinix smartphone.

2. Speed: The XOS comes with improved lightning and blazing speed that makes navigating through several icons on your phone swift and clear. It also gives room for fast and efficient use of multitasking through your smartphone.

3. Fingerprint scanner: The XOS supports fingerprint scanner with the Fingerprint manager on the UI, this feature allows users to set up fingerprint to protect their phone or swipe through pictures and also take selfies with their smartphones.

4. Stylish and efficient: XOS has an effective and efficient means of enhancing and maximizing storage space, battery and data. Users can enjoy the most stylish UI with the Xthemes & Magazine lock feature that allows users to swap phone wallpaper and motivational messages every time they unlock their phone. The Xthemes also comes with the Shuffle app that allows users to change the wallpaper anytime they click on the ‘Shuffle app’.

5. Three (3) fingers screenshot: The XOS comes with the 3 fingers feature. With this feature, you can make a screenshot by simply swiping 3 fingers across your screen. You no longer have to go through the volume and power button process anymore.

Users can save links, videos, pictures and posts to view later. The UI also other useful features such as Xshare, Xcloud, Xclub, Ultra power & battery saver and more. The Infinix XOS promises to be safe, elegant and superb.

XOS is available on Infinix Note 3, HOT 4, HOT S, Zero 3, Note 2. Update links are available on Infinix Xclub

SlimTrader has announced the launch of its SlimTrader Champs Scheme, a part of the company’s Affiliate Marketing Program. Through this scheme, SlimTrader is looking to engage hundreds of field agents to sell innovative SlimTrader solutions to businesses around them. According to a spokesperson from the company, “With this opportunity we are happy to be able to provide – in our own little way – a source of reprieve for Nigerians in these difficult economic times.”

SlimTrader is a leading technology enabler company with a keen focus on helping businesses in the Nigerian hospitality and travel industries. The company is also very passionate about strengthening Small and medium sized businesses and about giving young Nigerians innovative income earning streams.

Who we are looking for?
Anyone looking to earn some additional income on the side, including but not limited to:
• Students who need part-time jobs
• Self-employed people with some extra time on their hands
• People prospecting for jobs

Eligibility Criteria
• Computer literate
• Able to handle MS Word at an intermediate level
• Comfortable around technology
• Able to take good pictures with a good camera or camera phone

What you get?
For the SlimTrader Champ Scheme, your earnings are entirely in your hands. Depending on your drive & results, you stand to earn as much as N120,000 monthly!

Get Started!
If you want to be a SlimTrader Champ, visit http://bit.ly/slimtraderagent.

Join the SlimTrader Champs today to work, save and earn as you please.

About SlimTrader
SlimTrader is the number one technology platform for businesses in the travel and hospitality industry. With offices in the US and West Africa, the company serves organizations of all sizes. Since inception in 2010, the company has led the mobile commerce market in the airline industry and is now doing the same for hotels. For more information on the company visit www.slimtrader.com.

Riding on it’s already established presence in the Nigerian market and the huge successes recorded with the introduction of classy, user and price friendly models like the M5, M5 mini, P5W, and S Plus devices, GiONEE is now set to launch its new device the F103 pro in phone sales outlets Nationwide after a very successful pre-order campaign.

The Pre-Order activation, ran for an entire week all across Nigeria, and featured a number of fun activities like music, dance and skating. To add elegance to the event, the current Miss University of Lagos 2015 and a number of other beautiful models were also around to take selfies with customers and GiONEE lovers.

When asked about her experience working with GiONEE and the new GiONEE F103 Pro, she said “GiONEE is a very wonderful brand, their attention to detail in their devices and focus on creating beautiful, sleek and classy phones like this F103 Pro in my hand, makes them a brand I am happy to associate with any day, anytime.

Consumer reception of the new GiONEE F103 Pro was very impressive with Pre-Orders far exceeding the anticipated numbers. Many customers couldn’t even believe the amount the device was going to be sold for considering all its features. “I love GiONEE devices, I have been using them for over 4 years now, and this F103 Pro will be a great gift for my girlfriend for her birthday next month” Dapo Salami an undergraduate at the university of Lagos told us during the activation held within the campus.

This all serves as a testament to the confidence Nigerian customers now have in the GiONEE brand and of GiONEE’s understanding of the needs and preference of the market. This fact, the Marketing Director, GiONEE Nigeria Mr Habeeb Somoye also confirmed from his statements “Reception of our GiONEE devices so far has been very encouraging, and sales numbers have increased even during this economic hard times in Nigeria, that’s why we are aggressively expanding to other areas and new states, communicating with Billboards, TV, Radio commercials and now road shows and activations, because we want people to see for themselves just what makes GiONEE such an amazing device, I assure you the moment you use a GiONEE device you will fall in love for life and recommend to friends and family.

So what makes the F103 Pro so amazing? See for yourself.

The F103 pro comes into the market with a 13mp back camera and 5mp front camera with flash that makes your pictures come out looking crisp and crystal clear even in low-light conditions, and the face-beauty feature that guarantees you always look your best in every shot. However, the camera isn’t the only cool thing about the F103 pro. It also boosts of 2.5D Curved edge screen, 5.0” HD IPS Display for sharp and crisp images, as well as other amazing features like, text recognition, a 2400mAh battery capacity, and 2GB RAM. Making the GiONEE F103 pro the undisputed Selfie Specialist.

It will be available in stores for N45,000 only.

At last, everyone can agree to the same definition of beauty!

The popular notion that different people have different views on what they deem beautiful doesn’t apply to a picture taken with the new Gionee F103 Pro. Anything and everything it captures is beautiful.

Planning its elegant entrance into the Nigerian market by the end of August, the Gionee F103 Pro has already started making bold statements.

You are more beautiful than you think

Philosophy has suggested it; the Gionee F103 Pro will prove it.

The phone does more than capture a super sharp Selfie; it captures the inestimable quintessence of real beauty with a unique face beauty feature that smoothens, slims, brightens and enlarges your Selfie. In-between its rear 13MP and 5MP frontal camera, there’s a super photo shop.

Everyone is beautiful; it just takes a picture on the Gionee F103 Pro to see it.

Beautiful in the day, gorgeous at night

For photo lovers, the night is now a good time.

Every phone knows the difference between day and night, but the Gionee F103 Pro fixes it. A box full of technology capped with a screen flash, you can now take clearer pictures in low lighting conditions and Selfies, even in the dark.

Shoot like a pro
The Gionee F103 PRO allows even the most amateur photographer to shoot like a pro.

It provides a professional mode that helps you adjust features to suit your taste. It is too easy to fine-tune clarity and focus, increase or reduce exposure and make the photo brighter.

What’s beauty without a memory?
It’s like beauty without brains.

The Gionee F103 Pro isn’t just an epitome of luxury; it adds a gigantic memory to it. With a 16GB internal memory and 2GB Ram, you have enough space for all your pictures, games, videos, music, etc, enabling all applications to achieve optimum performance.

Good memories are beautiful moments
The Gionee F103 Pro has got an interesting GIF feature that allows you capture exciting moments. By simply shooting multiple images to form a simple animation, you can seize every occasion on the phone to make good memories.

True beauty starts inside but reflects on the outside
The Gionee F103 is as beautiful outside as it is inside. It comes with a 5.0 inches incell display and a lovely water drop glass design.

Easy does it

The Gionee F103 Pro has also got a unique text recognition feature that helps extract text from pictures. Instead of typing an entire document, you can just snap it with the Gionee phone and then it extracts text so you can edit easily.

That’s more than a phone should offer.

Other features:
The Gionee F103 has got GSM, FDD, WCDMA, CDMA, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS, Amigo 3.2, and DTS technology. Its processor, the Mediatek MT6735, has an average performing central processing unit with a speed of 1.3GHz.

Take it. The new Gionee F103 Pro is a professional blend of beauty and quality. You should be getting ready to visit www.gionee.com.ng to pre-order today.

SlimTrader, a leading technology enabler for hospitality businesses, has announced that it would be holding its second Hotels’ summit in Abuja this August. Coming on the heels of the successful inaugural edition that held in Lagos earlier this year, the event is intended to empower hotel administrators to run more successful businesses. The Abuja summit themed ‘Positioning Your Hotel for More Sales’ is slated to hold on the 31st of August, 2016 at Hotel de Bently, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala road, Abuja.

The summit is expected to play a crucial role in bringing hoteliers together with a view to sharing industry best-practices and recent technological developments that can have a substantial positive impact on their businesses.
The SlimTrader Abuja Hotels summit will bring together hospitality industry experts as well as representatives from leading local and international online travel agencies (OTA’s) to discuss key strategies that hotel administrators can employ to drive more visibility for their hotels and sell more room nights while moving their hotel businesses towards improved operational efficiency and growth.

Confirmed speakers at the upcoming event include Michael Ferrari, Market Manager, Expedia Lodging Partner Services; Anders Johansson, Area Manager East & West Africa, Booking.com; Ibrahim Aminu, Ibrahim Aminu, Head, Consumer Channels & Services, Interswitch; Magaji Buba, GM Commercial, SlimTrader; Mr. Seun Ojo, Vice President, Operations at Hotelnownow.com. The speakers would deliver presentations and join panel discussions on topics ranging from ‘how to improve your hotel’s visibility’ to ‘implementing the right strategies for hotel growth’ and so much more.

According to Femi Akinde, the Founder/CEO of SlimTrader,” this event is envisioned to become Nigeria’s principal platform for hotel managers and owners to learn important strategies to make their businesses even more profitable in these dire economic times. The Lagos event was the biggest forum in recent times for hotels administrators to meet and interact; over 500 hotels were represented at the event.” He disclosed that the summit is holding in Lagos, Port Harcourt and Abuja ensure that important messages reach hotels across the country. He assured that each edition would feature an insightful lineup of presentations and panel discussions.

The event is free to interested hotel owners, managers and finance directors; however pre-registration is compulsory. To register, interested attendees should visit the event website register for the event at www.slimtrader.com/hotels-summit-abuja. The event is proudly supported by Interswitch Nigeria Limited.

About SlimTrader
SlimTrader – www.slimtrader.com is a technology enabler for African businesses, serving businesses in the Travel and Hospitality industry. SlimTrader has offices in the US and West Africa and serves small, medium and large organizations. The company was founded in 2010 and today, has consolidated its position as the number one technology platform for businesses in the region.

The company’s flagship solution, MoBiashara for Hotels (MFH) is an affordable, easy-to-use technology solution with features to help hotels generate more sales via visibility on leading local and international online hotel online booking sites. With the platform, hotels can easily manage their room pricing and availability; and also manage general services with payment reconciliation with automated financial reporting.
For enquiries, please send an email to pr@slimtrader.com or visit the event webpage on www.slimtrader.com/hotels-summit-abuja.

As part of its commitment to improve customer’s experience and make internet available to all at affordable price, Spectranet 4G LTE has re-introduced a N7, 000 data plan.

With the new data plan customers are entitled to 15GB data and monthly roll over. According to the Head of Marketing, Mike Ogor, the new data plan is a way of reaffirming Spectranet’s commitment toward ensuring everyone has access to affordable and faster internet. The new plan is in line with our strategy of expanding our resources through tuning our services by adding more base stations and improving the quality of our service”.

Mike said that the new data plan is borne out of the company’s desire to make internet accessible and for subscribers to connect for less with an internet experience that is second to none.

“Based on our aspiration of bridging the communication gap as well as building and deepening relationships and connectivity among families, businesses, etc, we have introduced this new data plan to encourage Nigerians to access the internet at an amazing cost that will enable families, organisation and individuals be more active on our network.

He reiterates that the new plan has been designed in such a way that suits individual pockets irrespective of their income and status.

Spectranet was recently awarded the Nigerian Broadband Company of the year 2016 and positioned itself as a broadband service for families and SMEs. All other plans were also reviewed to give the customers more data for maximum internet experience. For instance, the N10,000 data plan now comes with 25GB as against the usual 20GB while the N5,000 data plan comes with 7GB and opportunity to roll over unused data.

Mr. Ogor added that, “At Spectranet, we understand the needs of our customers and continue to improve services to offer the best internet solution in the country. We will continue to provide affordable services to Nigerians both for new and existing customers. At the point of acquiring a Spectranet Modem, customers enjoy up to 40% discount, free data and unlimited night browsing. While the free data is valid for one month, the free unlimited night browsing continues for all customer that subscribe to the N10,000 plan.

In addition to all these benefits, customers enjoy rollover of unused data to the next month.

It will be recalled that Spectranet just concluded a bumper offer of 100% data bonus for its customers who renewed in the Month of July 2016. This was the company’s way of rewarding its loyal customers. For more information, please call the customer care desk on 0702345678 or visit the website on www.spectranet.com.ng

About three weeks ago, I read about the Gionee M5 Plus phone, and I felt indifferent as I habitually feel concerning all phones. I refuse to allow myself be cajoled with advertisements that display awesomeness but in reality, were flawed with imperfections.

I struggled to believe the claims promised by the phone but bought it anyway, hoping that for once; a phone will meet up to those unbelievable statements. It was going to be an exciting venture especially since I had by a side, a friend James, a die-hard critic of everything, especially phones.

The first thing we discover is that the Gionee M5 Plus has a very powerful battery life. We never understood the 5020 Milli Ampere battery feature until we used the phone for over three days and didn’t remember to charge. All through this period, the phone was heavily in use thanks to James who installed three battery-devouring games; “Darkness Reborn, Dungeon Hunter, And Zombie Catcher.”

Secondly, the memory of the Gionee M5 Plus is one of a kind. I’m not a game freak. James is, but, I couldn’t possibly resist playing a game on the Gionee M5 Plus. Its 3GB RAM, and 64GB internal memory makes gaming seamless and extremely real. I remember having to collect five series of the Game of Thrones movie after I was lashed by my colleagues for not being in tune with trends. Well, my Gionee M5 Plus phone didn’t even feel it. There is enough space for all my files, songs, videos, apps, games, pictures and even more on the Gionee M5 Plus. This is particularly remarkable because I hate deleting old files to get new ones. Multi-tasking on my phone is now fun compared to my old phone that hangs every now and then.

Thirdly, the security promised by the Gionee M5 Plus is not a joke. All contacts, messages, calls, pictures, and files can be securely kept in a safe box. This is no ordinary safe box for it will require your fingerprint to get access. The phone feels very secure particularly because no one, not even James can access the phone without my consent. The Gionee M5 Plus also provides an easy to use mobile security application against theft.

The Gionee M5 Plus then birthed in me an obsession for pictures and Selfies. In just three weeks, I have taken over 200 pictures; that’s more than my entire life album. Yes, that is how bad I have been with pictures. Now I really love seeing myself through the eyes of my phone camera; I actually look more charming. I wouldn’t blame myself too much because the Gionee M5 Plus has got a 13MP rear camera and a 5MP front camera, why wouldn’t anyone be obsessed with the quality sharp images.

Another thing that caught our attention was the beauty of the phone. It has got a marvelous fully metallic frame and battery cover. It has a symmetrically curved design; you cannot but notice a person holding a Gionee M5 Plus phone. The Gionee M5 Plus has been a very useful conversation starter for me, especially with ladies. I just drop my phone on the table and like a recorded script, they tell me, “awwwwwn, I love your phone, what brand is it? Such beauty, can I see it?
The beautiful slimness of the Gionee M5 Plus holds at 8.4mm, and its weight is just 211.5 grams with a 6.0 High Definition Amoled Display.

Finally, the Gionee M5 Plus is a machine. If not for James, I probably wouldn’t know the engine embedded in the Gionee M5 Plus. Its MediaTek 6753 Chipset processor has eight cores with an astonishing speed of 1.3GHZ; this is obviously the secret behind the great gaming and phone quality.

The Gionee M5 Plus has got GSM, WCDMA, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS, Android 5.1, Type C USB, G-sensor, Light Sensor and E-compass, DTS and HI-FI technology. The Gionee M5 Plus also charges super fast and comes with an inbuilt power bank ability that can charge four other phones simultaneously.

Finally, when you have a phone with incredible features, a powerful 5020 Milli Ampere battery and a sleek exterior, like the Gionee M5 Plus, you are not just lucky, you are honored. Be like James, he’s currently eating popcorn while watching War craft on his new Gionee M5 plus.

Etisalat Nigeria has announced the call for entries for the 2016 Etisalat Prize for Innovation.
Nigeria’s most innovative telecommunications company introduced the Etisalat Prize for Innovation in 2012 with the aim to reward innovations that can promote mobile broadband utilisation in Nigeria and Africa at large.

The prize will be awarded in two categories: Most Innovative Product/Service category and Most Innovative Idea category. The first prize of =N=5,000,000 will be awarded for the most innovative product or service launched in the last 12 months, with a second prize of =N=2,000,000 awarded for the most innovative idea.

In addition to the cash prizes, both winners and the other top 10 finalists will receive training at the Enterprise Development Centre of the Pan Atlantic University, Lagos.

Chief Executive Officer, Etisalat Nigeria, Matthew Willsher said the Etisalat Prize for Innovation is aimed at encouraging and celebrating valuable innovation in the Nigerian market.

“Innovation is in our DNA, and as such supporting and promoting innovation is something that comes naturally to Etisalat” he said.

Entries for this year’s edition is open till September 9, 2016 and can be submitted at prizeforinnovation.etisalat.com.ng , winners will be announced in November 2016.

A look at past winners of the Etisalat Prize for Innovation who have gone ahead to excel in their various fields:

Adebayo Adegbembo, developer of Genni Games who won in the Most Innovative Product/Service category in 2013, has expanded the scope of the product by adding more apps to his portfolio and integrating Genni Games with the Etisalat Games Portal. Adegbembo has held exhibitions in the UK, Germany, USA, South-Africa and Brazil and now organises Digital Storytelling Workshops for primary school children in Lagos and Johannesburg.

 

Anthony Oniwon, developer of Exammate and winner in the Most Innovative Product/Service category in 2014 has also done very well since receiving the Prize. He has developed an SSCE version of Exammate which previously focused on JAMB Examinations and is currently developing a new line of products for much younger children.

Nigeria’s most SME friendly telecommunications company, Etisalat has launched a new e-Commerce platform “SME Arena” in partnership with Singapore’s YuuZoo Corp to facilitate the growth of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Nigeria.

The SME Arena combines social with e-Commerce which allows small and medium-sized enterprises to converge, network, collaborate, showcase their products and interact with customers and business partners on the digital space, thereby enhancing efficiency, productivity and profit optimization.

Matthew Willsher, CEO of Etisalat Nigeria who spoke at the launch of SME Arena, described it as a convergence of social experience and e-Commerce. “The timing for the launch is perfect, with the Nigerian market for e-Commerce and social networking growing very rapidly. As of 2015, there are 82.19 mobile subscriptions per 100 people in Nigeria. Nigeria also has the highest mobile internet traffic against total web traffic ratio in the world, at 82% as of 1st quarter 2016.”

Through the partnership, YuuZoo gains prime access to the booming e-Commerce and social networking market in Nigeria, with a specific focus on the huge SME market.“We are deeply honored that Etisalat, Nigeria’s leading innovative telecommunications operator, has chosen us to be their trusted technology and solution partner for their new massive social e-Commerce launch”, says YuuZoo CEO, James Sundram.

SME Arena helps small & medium-sized businesses in Nigeria drive networking, profitability and brand awareness through:
1. Community: Get Social with one’s business. Under the Community feature, vendors have access to targeted social networks and both vendors and users are empowered via direct interaction with each other.
2. Marketplace: SME merchants can open a store and sell their products on the online marketplace.
3. Directory: The Directory allows business to be listed on SME Arena for free. This feature helps SMEs expand their client base and gain increased awareness for their businesses.

Visit www.smearena.com.ng to find out more.